King of Hearts
Origin The King of Hearts is a nursery rhyme character from 1782. Lewis Carroll later adapted the rhyme into the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where he is the King Consort of the Queen of Hearts. He seems to, when compared to the Queen of Hearts, be the moderate part of the Wonderland government. As an example, when the Queen, who enjoys ordering beheadings, attempts to have Alice executed (charged with being unable to answer who is lying down in front of her) the King of Hearts reminds her that she is only a child. The King also quietly pardons many of the subjects the Queen has ordered to be beheaded when the Queen is not looking. This guarantees few people are actually beheaded. Nevertheless, when the Queen plays a game of croquet in the story, the only players who remain at the end are himself, the Queen, and Alice. At the Knave of Hearts' trial, however, where he acts as judge, he is revealed to be quite juvenile, with such lines as, "don't be nervous or I'll have you executed on the spot" to the Hatter, or asking the Duchess' Cook irrelevant questions such as, "What are tarts made of?" Between the two of them, the King and Queen appear to present a fairly accurate reflection of the childish, reckless and confusing world of Wonderland. Him and the Queen also have ten children (the numerical hearts suit of cards). Public Domain Literary Appearances *''The Queen of Hearts'' *''The King and Queen of Hearts: With the Rogueries of the Knave Who Stole the Queen’s Pies'' by Charles Lamb (1805) *''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'' by Lewis Carroll (1865) *''The Queen of Hearts: A Dramatic Fantasia, for Private Theatricals'' by James B. Greenough (1875) *''The Knave of Hearts: A Fourth‐of‐July Play in One Act'' by Albert Lee (1895) *''Wonderland'' by Glen MacDonough, music by Victor Herbert (1905) *''Mrs. Goose: Her Book'' by Maurice Switzer (1906) *''Jingles for Singles'' by Ida H. Juillerat (1910) *''The Modern Mother Goose: A Play in Three Acts'' by Helen Hamilton (1916) *''The Human Touch with Fantasy and Poems'' by Leonard A. Compton‐Rickett (1921) Public Domain Movie Appearances *''Alice in Wonderland'' (1903) *''Alice in Wonderland'' (1915) Notes *The King of Cups first appeared in Ganjifa playing cards in or before the twelfth century. The Germans changed the suit of cups to hearts around 1460. The French referred to the King of Hearts as "Charles," named after either Charles VII of France or Charlemagne. *The King of Hearts is sometimes called the "suicide king" because he appears to be sticking his sword into his head. This is a result of centuries of bad copying by English card makers where the king's axe head has disappeared. See Also *Wikipedia *ComicVine *Alice in Wonderland Wiki *Disney Wiki Category:Game Themed Characters Category:Royal Characters Category:ABC Characters Category:Television Characters Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:Literary Characters Category:Disney Characters Category:Movie Characters Category:Animated Characters Category:Manga / Anime Characters Category:Video Game Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Macmillan Characters Category:Dell Characters Category:Eclipse Characters Category:DC Characters Category:Gilberton Characters Category:Marvel Characters Category:Antarctic Press Characters Category:Film Serial Characters Category:Nursery Rhymes Category:Unknown Creator Category:Protagonists Category:Unknown Debuts Category:Hearts Family Characters Category:German Characters Category:Re-Print Characters Category:Wonderland Characters